Pine tree story

I promise this is the last snow post this winter! But I have to share a story from the heaviest snow fall this year. It all began so nice. Huge snowflakes started falling down from the sky around 10 a.m. and because I was home with flu, I could not stop watching them from the window. At some point I could see just a white blur. Things started to get more serious when it did not stop for several hours and the snow was wet and heavy. I heard a scary cracking of the wood from outside and I knew our 40-year old pine tree didn't bear up against such a weight. Two big branches broke down. We spent the rest of the day until dark trying to shake the snow off from all our trees and branches we could reach.
After two weeks, my dad and husband climbed up to the very top of the pine tree and filed off the branches properly (they were still holding on up there, supported by lower branches) with a handsaw, because it was dangerous walking at the pavement as they could fall down anytime. I was scared to death to see them up there...and relieved when they were down again.
At this moment, there is no snow anymore, the spring is coming slowly, and our poor pine tree is quite shorter that her twin sister which survived without any harm.

Sľubujem, že toto je posledný snehový post tejto zimy! Ale musím sa podeliť o príbeh z tohtoročného najzasneženejšieho dňa. Začalo to tak pekne. Obrovské vločky padali z neba už od 10 ráno a keďže som mala chrípku a bola som doma, nevedela som sa vynadívať. V jednom momente ste mohli vidieť len nič a belobu. Vei sa začali komplikovať keď neprestávalo snežiť ani po niekoľkých hodinách a sneh bol mokrý a ťažký. Začula som desivé praskanie dreva a bolo mi jasné, že naša 40-ročná borovica tú váhu neuniesla. Zlomili sa dve veľké vetvy. Zvyšok dňa sme až do zotmenia pobehovali po záhrade a snažili sa zo všadiaľ, kam sme dosiahli,obúchať sneh.
Po dvoch týždňoch tato s Marekom vyliezli až hore na borovicu a snažili sa tie vetvy poriadne odpíliť (lebo sa tam stále držali a podopierali ich ešte aj spodné vetvy), pretože viseli priamo nad chodníkom a mohli spadnúť hockedy. Umierala som od strachu keď boli tak vysoko..a uľavilo sa mi až keď boli v bezpečí späť na zemi. 
V tejto chvíli už niet po snehu ani pamiatky, pomaly ide jar, a naša úbohá borovica je skoro o polovicu nižšia ako jej dvojička, ktorá to prežila bez ujmy.

It is just starting here

The same branch after a while

And again, already broken...

Next morning was beautiful...see the broken pine tree on the right?  Half of the height of the other one.

January weekend

In the end of January, we spent a weekend in a camp resort in central Slovakia. When we came, everything was brown, foggy and it was raining the whole Saturday. Sunday morning we woke up and most of the ground was covered with snow. Suddenly the whole place looked much more beautiful. Snow does magic to some places. I am not sure if the animals enjoyed it as much as I did, but they seemed they don´t mind. And look at that funny lama face! I love her teeth :-) !
We stopped to visit our friends, who temporarily lived in an old charming house nearby with even more charming garden. We sipped tea and ate cookies and talked inside a cozy room with fireplace, while the flurries outside were trying to do their job. I do not have a chance to visit friends very often, and I should! It was such a nice time!

Koncom januára sme boli na víkend na strednom Slovensku, v jednom voľnočasovom rezorte (teda tábore).
Keď sme dorazili, bolo sychravo, hnedo a škaredo, celú sobotu pršalo. V nedeľu ráno sme sa však zobudili do bieleho snehového rána. Sneh robí zázraky. Všetko je odrazu krajšie. Nie som si istá či si to mysleli aj zvieratká, ale nevyzerali, že by im sneh nejako zásadne prekážal. A pozrite si tú lamu! Úžasné zuby, čo?
Zastavili sme sa aj navštíviť kamarátov, ktorí mali v tom čase prechodný domov v jednom šarmantnom starom dome neďaleko s ešte šarmantnejšou úžasnou záhradou.
A tak sme sedeli v útulnej izbe s kozubom, popíjali čaj, chrúmali sušienky a debatovali, zatiaľ čo vonku sa snehové vločky snažili zo všetkých síl. Nemám veľa možností chodiť po návštevách , ale mala by som to zmeniť(haló, nechcete ma niekto? vy ste u nás vítaní)! Veď ja strašne rada chodím po návštevách a bolo to super Peťo a Laďka!

Last day of 2014

The last day of 2014 we decided to go for a hike. Originally, we had a quite serious plan - to climb the highest peak in our area - Choč. But temperatures deep below zero and stories of those, who tried it the day before, scared most of our crew, so we settled on much easier plan - The Liptov castle (or better to say what has left of it - ruins). We started in the village called Kalameny, where I almost fainted when I saw the beauty of a local hot spring. The beauty of it was made mostly because everything around was covered in snow, I can imagine without it can look pretty much desperate. But with all the snow, it looked like from a fairytale. The hike up to the castle was fast, the cold was bearable and the sun was shining. Choč, our inicial destination, was standing right in front of us bathing in the sun light and I had a feeling, that there was no better day to go there. Later we have heard, that it was not that friendly as it seemed up there, too much ice so even the rescuers were needed. We enjoyed hot tea and home made christmas pastries on the top, had a look around to absorb the beauty and started to descent. We chose the other side, which was not a clever idea as we realized, but at least it was more adventurous. We made it to the spring with some effort and couple of falls. I was ready to jump in, bu t have not find any other partners in crime again... so we returned later on with our bathing suits. it was a great end of the year!

Posledný deň roka 2014 sme sa vybrali na túru. Pôvodne sme mali celkom seriózny plán - vyliezť na Choč. Avšak teploty hlboko pod nulou a poplašné správy tých, ktorí to skúšali deň pred nami, vystrašili väčšinu posádky a tak sme si zvolili cieľ podstatne ľahší - Liptovský Hrad. Vyrazili sme s dediny Kalameny kde som skoro omdlela nad krásnym prírodným termálnym prameňom. Krásu mu asi dodával sneh na okolitých stromoch, verím že za teplejšieho počasie to môže byť celkom neútešné miesto. Takto ale vyzeralo ako z rozprávky. Cesta hore prebehla bez ťažkostí, chlad bol znesiteľný a slniečko svietilo. Choč, náš pôvodný cieľ, stál priamo pred nami zaliaty slnkom a ja som mala pocit, že krajší deň na jeho dobytie už ani nebude. Ale neskôr sme sa dozvedeli, že až taký prívetivý ako vyzeral v ten deň nebol a šmýkalo sa tak, že zasahovali aj záchranári. My sme si na vrchole vychutnali teplý čaj a koláče, rozhliadli sa po tej kráse na okolo a vydali sa na ústup. Opačnou stranou, čo sa neukázalo ako najlepší nápad, ale aspoň to bolo dobrodružnejšie. Prebíjali sme sa pomedzi popadané kmene stromov, niektorí padali. V zdraví sme to dobojovali až dole k prameňu. Bola som odhodlaná ho hneď okúsiť, ale opäť som nenašla parťákov a tak sme sa tam vrátili až navečer, aj s plavkami. Bol to ale nádherne zakončený rok!

Christmas time - Bits and pieces

Last couple days I spent staring and taking pictures of our tree, so excuse this overload. I just love Christmas trees. I bought this Nutcracker below in Germany this November, and it is by far the most expensive thing hanging on our tree - but I will have it forever as a memory of that place. And, after a long time we have a REAL tree. It might not be the nicest, but I am so happy to have it!
If you scroll waaaaay down, there are also pictures of snow!!! It came after Christmas, but still.. we have at least a bit of it. We are going to the mountains for the New Year, so I hope we will get a lot more there! So Happy New Year and see you next year hopefully!

Posledné dni som trávila čumením na  a fotením stromčeka, takže pardon za túto kládu fotiek. Milujem vianočné stromčeky! Toho Luskáčika nižšie som si kúpila tento rok v Nemecku a je to tá najdrahšia vec, čo visí na našom strome - ale ostane mi navždy ako spomienka. A, po dlhom čase máme ŽIVÝ stromček. Možno nie najdokonalejší, ale som taká rada že ho máme!
Ak budete skrolovať aj poriadne dole, sú tam aj fotky snehu! Prišiel síce po Vianociach, ale aj tak...máme ho aspoň trošku. Na Nový Rok ideme do hôr, tak tam si ho dúfam užijeme aj viac.
Tak sa majte krásne, ŠNR a vidíme sa budúci rok dúfam!